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Topic: needed: tool to sync two HDs/folders (Read 4157 times)

I need a (free if possible) tool to sync my HD - or really just several folders, including subfolders (from C: and D:) - to my backup HD that I just connect every now and then.

Is there a smart tool that has no problem with some of the source folders being written to while running? (i.e. it should just copy what it finds in that moment and not care over more changes after that moment)

Over the years I saw a few of these programs, but since I never needed one before... your help is appreciated!

HoboCopy is a backup/copy tool. It is inspired by robocopy in both name and in functionality. It differs greatly from robocopy, however, in two respects:

1. It is not as full-featured as robocopy. 2. It uses the Volume Shadow Service (VSS) to "snapshot" the disk before copying. It then copies from the snapshot rather than the "live" disk.

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Why Does HoboCopy Use the Volume Shadow Service?

Because HoboCopy copies from a VSS snapshot, it is able copy even files that are locked by some other program. Further, certain programs (such as SQL Server 2005) are VSS-aware, and will write their state to disk in a consistent state before the snapshot is taken, allowing a sort of "live backup". Files locked by VSS-unaware programs will still be copied in a "crash consistent" state (i.e. whatever happens to be on the disk). This is generally a lot better than not being able to copy the file at all.

You've looked at this?SyncToy 1.4 for Windows Vista is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers. http://www.microsoft...7&displaylang=enNot sure about locked file behaviour...

There's information on using some tools made available by an MS blogger for scripting VSS volume shadows. You can use those scripts to get a shadow started before a backup and stopped after the backup. Voila - backup open files. These scripts should be able to work with most any backup solution as long as you can get the backup to run scripts (or have the backup started by a script), not just SyncBack freeware. They're by no means straight-forward or easy to set up, but they're free.